Kingdom Hearts 3 Xehanort's Final Fall
by ultimatedbzmaniac
Summary: This is my take on what Kingdom Hearts three should be, Sora has finally decided it's time to tell Kairi how he really feels about her. But his oldest and greatest enemy has returned. Will Sora be able to stop him?
1. The Prologue

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>Okay I've deleted the old version of this story, this is the new version, hope you all like it.<br>I do not own any of the anime's mentioned in this chapter I'm just mentioning them.  
>Now please read, enjoy and review<p>

It has been six months since the events of kingdom hearts 2 took place, Sora, Kairi and Riku have settled back onto the island and back into their old lives pretty well. They are now living normal, well normalish lives, Sora and Riku with the help of Kairi have finally caught up in school, with Sora and Kairi in the tenth grade and Riku in the eleventh. It took a bit of explaining to their parents and an actuall keyblade summoning to convince them but after a rocky welcome back party from their parents and another story telling session with Selphie, Wakka and Tidus they finally got to relax.

They made sure to make their freinds and family swear not to tell anyone about their adventures and they agreed with only a couple of complaints from Selphie, so now we come back to the present time january the third, a friday, seven am.

Sora grumbled as he heard his alarm clock spring to life, without even lifting his head from his pillow he pushed the snooze button on his alarm clock and breathed a sigh of relief as the noise came to a stop. He then closed his eyes, in the hope of going back to sleep. Only to inevitably be woken up by the alarm clock going off five minuets later, he groaned once more as he sat up and pressed the off button on his alarm clock. But before he could lay back down he heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside his bedroom door.

Sora quickly reacted by standing up until only silence was heard, he thought it was probably his mom, "Hey mom is that you?"

When no asnwer was heard Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade, pushed his back against the wall by his door, and slowly reached for the doorknob. When suddenly the door burst open and something pounced upon Sora pinning him to his bed. Before he could attack what was on top of him, he registered that it was only Kairi and put away his Keyblade, it was probably her beautifull laugh that gave her away, since she laughed when she pounced upon him. Even now she continued to laugh, until finally she spoke, "I totally freaked you out!"

She then continued to laugh, Sora was a little dumbfounded because he was paying too much attention to her beautiful laugh, oh how he loved her laugh, he finally snapped out of it and responded, "Freaked me out?, that's an understatement, you scared the shit out of me Kairi!"

He took a deep breathe before he grew a mischievous grin and spoke again, "Well its ok because now its your turn!"

Before Kairi could respond, Sora pinned her to his bed and started to tickle her fiercely, "Now you will beg me for mercy!"

She didn't verbally respond, but she was trying to fight back. She had no chance especially since she was laughing hysterically. About five minuets passed and she finally decided she would give in, "Ok ok, Sora I'm begging you ha ha! Please stop before I die of laughter!"

Sora did as she asked, let go of her, stood up and helped her off his bed. Sora could not stop smiling when Kairi was around, he of course knew why, he was in love with her. Hell he's been in love with her since he first met her when they were four, but he hasn't ever had the courage to tell her because he always thought she liked or even worse loved Riku. And if she rejected Sora it would crush his heart and he would eventually wither away into death. Sora quickly snapped out of his thoughts, "So what did you want Kairi?"

Kairi just walked over to Sora and pointed to her shool uniform that she was wearing, Sora just stared at her for a minuet until... "Oh crap were going to be late for school!"

Kairi just giggled "No duh and if your late one more time then you'll get detention."

Sora quickly ran over to his closet, got his school uniform, ran to the bathroom and started his daily school routine. Which left Kairi totally alone in his room, she just sat there and wandered in her own thoughts, "Wow its not often I get to see Sora in nothing but boxers and a tank top, I really need to start coming over before he gets dressed...wait! When did I become such a pervert! Well at least it's only Sora."

Kairi stopped her train of thought as her eyes finally started to wander over Sora's room, as usual there were things strewn about on his floor but when Kairi finally looked at Sora's walls then she noticed something different. There were what appeared to be anime posters with bold letters on them which were obviously the names of the animes. She looked over all of them and the most noteable ones were the Dragon ball z, Naruto, Inuyasha and Digimon posters, the posters of these four shows stood out to Kairi because she watches them herself.

Although this interested her, Kairi quickly lost herself in her thoughts once again, "I love him so much when will he return my affections? Will he ever return my affections?"

Kairi was quickly interupted by another voice in her head, but this one was technically hers as well. "Are you crazy of course he loves you! He sacrificed himself just to give your heart back!"

Namine screeched this in her true selfs mind, Kairi was dumbfounded. "Since when do you scream Nami?"

"I'm sorry but are you serious? He obviously loves you Kairi he just hasn't told you. I mean, he did sacrifice his life for you."

"Well yeah but he would have sacrificed himself for Riku as well."

"But he did it for you with a smile, he was glad to do it for you."

For a second there, Namine almost sounded sarcastic. Kairi quickly blocked Namine's voice out as she heard the sound of Sora's shower coming to an end, not five minuets later Sora emerged from the bathroom ready for school. Sora quickly grabbed his backpack, grabbed Kairi by the hand, ran down the steps and out the front door towards their school. "Sorry Kairi but were going to have to hurry."

Kairi just smiled and continued to sprint behind Sora hand in hand, and in about five minutes they reached their school and went inside, Sora quickly looked at the clock on the wall which read "7:50 AM"

"Wow we got here faster than I thought we would, oh well I guess we can get some breakfest from the cafeteria and then head to class."

Kairi just nodded and walked down the hall with Sora until they reached their lockers. They both got their stuff, went to the cafeteria, ate and then continued to their classes. 8 hours passed and it was finally the end of the school, so the Keyblade wielding trio met up at their lockers like usual, this time it was Riku who speak first, "So how'd the day go guys?"

Sora just smiled and said, "The usual boring boring boring, plus a lot of paranoia, because some of those teachers I just can not face on a regular basis."

Kairi smiled, closed her locker and looked towards er two best friends, "Hey Sora just look at it like this, at least you won't ever have to defend the world from a teacher."

Sora rubbed the back of his head with his left hand and closed his locker with his right, "Well im not sure about that Kairi some of those teachers are crazy enough to try it."

"You really are paranoid Sora."

"Actually Kairi I'm going to have to agree with Sora on this one, I mean have you seen Mr Beck? He is strait up wacko."

Kairi sighed before she spoke, "What is it with you two and school? You guys can face down an army of heartless, yet you cower at the thought of school work."

At this remark Sora and Riku both replied in unison, "Hey I don't cower!"

Kairi just smiled and started walking off "Sure you guys don't."

Sora then began making his way after Kairi with Riku not far behind, Sora caught up with Kairi before Riku could and asked, "So Kairi how about we hang out tommorow just the two of us?"

Even a two year old could hear the nervousness in Sora's voice, but Kairi ignored it and responded, "Sure i'd like that, I'll see you tomorrow, but I have homework and rest planned for today so see ya!"

And with that she started walking in the direction of her house, when Riku caught up to Sora, he and Sora exchanged a few words then went their seperate ways to their houses.


	2. Sneaky Best Friend

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>here's chapter two, Now please read, enjoy and review.<p>

When Riku arrived at his house he immediately went to his room and started on his homework, it didn't take him long to finish because he did most of it at school during his free time. As soon as he finished he changed out of his school uniform into his casual outfit which is actually his adventuring outfit from when he was 14.  
>Now that he was comfortable he relaxed onto his bed and let his thoughts drift, after a while they ended up on Sora and Kairi. Riku wanted to help them, but then again he didn't, the truth is he still has feeling's for Kairi. But he knows that Sora has feelings for her too, and he could see the way Kairi looks at Sora.<p>

Riku shook his head of these thoughts, Sora was his best friend, he wasn't going to betray him like that. He would help Sora and Kairi get together, even if it killed him. The reason behind this was because he saw how hard Sora fought for Kairi during their adventures, fighting for Kairi somehow always awoken a sleeping strength in Sora. Riku had never ever in his whole life seen Sora fight so hard, so fieerce and without any hesitation than he did when he fought for Kairi. Riku looked over at his clock and it read " 5:54pm "

"Good Kairi should have finished her homework by now, so I can go talk to her."

Riku made his way out of his room, down the stairs and out the door, he closed the door behind him and started making his way to Kairi's house, in about thirty minutes he arrived. He knocked on the door and waited for Kairi's foster father to answer the door, but he wasn't suprised in the least bit when Kairi answered the door instead.  
>When Kairi saw that it was Riku, she smiled and spoke, "Hey Riku, did you need something?"<p>

Riku just gave a little grin, "Actually I just need to talk to you, may I come in?"

Kairi stepped out of the doorway, let Riku inside and closed the door behind him. Kairi was curious, "Talk about What?"

"About you and Sora."

Kairi blushed a little and gave a sigh, she gestured towards her living room, "This way, we can talk in the living room."

Riku and Kairi both sat down on the couch, Riku could see papers laid all over the coffee table and floor, he assumed it was Kairi's homework, but if he looked closer he would have seen a variety of dating and getting your guy tips from several different dating magazines scribbled on the papers. "So what about me and Sora?"

Riku let out a tired sigh with a hint of sadness within and looked over at Kairi, "You need to tell him how you feel, you know he will never make the first move."

Kairi was a little taken back by how blunt Riku was being.

"Well, if he doesn't tell me tomorrow, then I'll consider it."

Riku couldn't stand it, "Why?"

"Because I can't be sure if he feels the same way I do."

Riku face palmed, "Kairi you cannot be serious. Of course he feels the same way."

"Then why hasn't he told me?"

"Because."

"Because, why?"

Riku let out a sigh, "Because he's afraid you'll reject his affections."

Kairi's eyes opened wide, she couldn't believe, "Sora's afraid I'll reject him?"

Riku just nodded his head, Kairi held them back the best she could, but she could feel tears beginning to flow. She managed to stop them from coming out and continued her conversation with Riku. "Besides, why do you care so much about this?"

"I care about you two a lot, you two are the perfect couple."

Kairi just gave Riku a disbelieving face, Riku recognized it and sighed, "Ok I might be getting tired of Sora's constant obsession over you, I mean at least you keep your infatuation to yourself but Sora, hell I'd be surprised if you weren't the only person back when we were fourteen who didn't know his true feelings."

"Ok, nice try Riku, but you can't lie to me."

Riku frowned a Kairi and she just stuck her tongue out at him, " Seriously, listen you need to tell him or I'll keep paying for it. And I'm sick and tired of sparring with Sora when his mind is on you, its not even a challenge when he's spacing out like that."

Then another voice chimed in, from inside Kairi's own head, "Ahhh that's so sweet."

Namine had finally butt in, "See I told you, and people call Sora dense."

"Hey!"

Kairi could hear Namine snickering in her head, but she tuned her out and turned her attention back to Riku. She gave Riku a big smile, "Sure I've got it, but I'm not promising anything."

Riku just sighed and gave a small smile, "Fine then, lets make a bet, if he tells you his feelings before you tell him yours, I'll have to buy each of you a sea salt ice cream, but if he doesn't, you both owe me one each. Now how does that sound?"

Kairi put her hand out and shook Riku's hand, "Ok I'll take that deal."

"Fine its your loss."

After a few more minutes of conversation between the two Riku left, leaving Kairi alone with her thoughts and papers. Kairi didn't care if she had to buy Riku a sea salt ice cream, but she did care if Sora felt the same way. Even after what Namine and Riku said, she still didn't think that Sora loved her. Kairi walked back into her living room and slumped down onto the couch, "Dang, I've read all of these tips over and over and over again, but almost none of them will work on Sora and the ones that will, I can't even use until we're officially a couple."

Namine decided to step in and provide some advice, "Why do you need tips Kai, Sora loves you for you, no matter what you change or do for him."

Kairi let a frown form upon her face, "I know he doesn't care about that, but if he really does feel for me, it doesn't help that I always lose my cool when I'm around him, sure I can hide it but that doesn't change the fact that I still fight for the right words to say"

"What about when you told him that you two should take the raft without Riku, you found the right words then, I know because Roxas has told me how touched Sora was when you said that."

Kairi let out a sigh, "Wait how do you know about that?"

"Kairi you and I are one person, I can access your memories anytime I wish, and I've seen'em all."

"Well, that took all the courage I had and I felt it was the right thing to say, besides he didn't seemed touched. I mean he looked weirded out if you ask me, that's why I covered myself and said it was a joke."

Kairi then took a deep breath, "Even if he does love me, I don't know what he loves about me, so I could try something to make one of my traits shine, but what if it turns out that's not one of the traits he likes? It could devestate our future together"

"I wouldn't go that far, but that is a good question Kai, what does he love about you? Hmmm...I wonder what Roxas loves about me?"

Kairi was at a loss for words she couldn't get her mind off of what she could do wrong, any small thing could turn Sora off of her completely. "Kai what the boys love about us aside, they will still love us no matter what...I hope."

"You hope! Way to make me feel better Nami, now I'm even more frightened! I'm sorry for snapping Nami, its just this has me on the edge."

"Its okay Kai, because now this has me worried too."

Kairi just let out a desperate sigh and started cleaning the papers off of the coffee table, once she was done she took them to her room and hid them in her closet. As soon as the papers where put away in the closet Kairi flopped onto her bed and began to think and thinking turned into resting and resting turned into yawning, Kairi then looked over to her clock and found that it was eight thirty pm, "Eight thirty already? I better get ready for bed, I plan on meeting Sora extra early."

And with that she hopped off her bed, went over to her closet and started searching. Soon she found the outfit she wanted, the same clothes she had wore when Sora came back to the island for good, and set it out on her desk for in the morning. She then went to her dresser and pulled out a brand new pair of pink panties, a bra and set them out on her bed. She then walked into the bathroom and per routine brushed her teeth, flossed, took a shower and came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She walked into her room and started to put on her underwear. As soon as she was done she lied back down on her bed. She set her clock for eight am and went to sleep.

At Sora's house the same thing was happening, Sora was getting ready for bed and once he was done he lied down and was sound asleep dreaming of what tommorow will hopefully bring, while at Riku's house something a little different was happening. He was packing a backpack with a blanket, pillow, snack and a telescope. Riku was also fully dressed and now that he was packed he could leave which is exactly what he did, he climbed out of his window and dropped down onto the ground. He made to the dock of the island, there he took a small boat out to a small island, the same island that he, Sora and Kairi used to play at when they were younger.

He docked at the small island, got out, made his way over to the waterfall and he started to look around it very very carefully. After about five to ten minuets of searching he found a cave near the waterfall, so he entered it slowly and carefully. Now that he was inside he knew that this was Sora's and Kairi's secret place, which he had overheard about in one of there conversations. Riku smirked and shook his head, "So this is the so called secret place, they do remember that me and Sora found this cave together when we were four right?"

Riku waited for a few seconds as if someone was going to answer him, but he finally sat down and pulled out a blanket, a pillow and lied down on the blanket and rested his head on the pillow, he then drifted into sleep.

It was finally the next day and by some freak coincidence Sora was the first one to wake up, as soon as he was dressed he headed in the direction of the dock. When he got there, he got in a small boat and began rowing to the small island that his and Kairi's secret place was at. He docked at the small island and got out of the boat, he then made his way to the Paopu tree, by the time he arrived and sat down near the ocean, Riku was finally waking up. He gave a big yawn and looked outside, he noticed Sora, he then quickly scrambled for his mini telescope and pointed it in Sora's direction. He then waited for something to happen, this was unnoticed by Sora though.


	3. Settling The Score, or Not

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>Also anyone who played the first Kingdom Hearts will be in for a treat, you'll recognize a few things if you pay close attention. Anyway, here's chapter three, now please read, enjoy and review.<p>

A sky of endless blue, without a cloud in the sky which let the sun shine bright, which brought out the true, pure beauty of Destiny Islands. It was all for Sora to see as he lay in the sands on the beach where he, Kairi and Riku would always hang out. It had been half a year since they had defeated Organization XIII, the Heartless and Nobodies just seemed to disappear into thin air after Sora and Riku vanquished Xemnas. And the worlds around Kingdom Hearts seemed safe and at peace now.

Both Sora and Riku now kept their Keyblades as souvenirs, to remind them of their past deeds and accomplishments, how they saved a whole universe from obliteration from a seemingly unstoppable enemy.  
>It still all seemed like yesterday when Sora fought alongside Donald and Goofy as they fought side by side against the armies of Heartless and Nobodies, All his adventuring and endless battles all seemed to pay off and be worth it when he got to the Castle That Never Was.<p>

It was their where he reunited with Kairi and Riku for the first time in about a year. Not only was he reunited with the two people close to his heart, but when Kairi ran right to him and hugged him for all it was worth, it had to be one of the greatest rewards of all. Now that was all behind Sora, and he was right back to the life he knew before the adventure began. And it was so nice to be able to relax for once, no villains from other worlds, no Heartless, no Nobodies, no Pete and no Maleficent. It was just peace, rest and relaxation.

Sora let his mind drift to Kairi like it always does and he began to wonder, "I wonder what she'll say, maybe I shouldn't even tell her. I mean what if she doesn't feel the same? Then our whole friendship will be ruined!"

Sora was quickly stopped in his tracks by another voice emanating from his head, "Would you calm down? For goodness sake, your a Keyblade wielder, you eat evil villains for breakfast, this won't be anywhere near as difficult."

Sora stayed silent for a moment, letting the words of his other half, Roxas, sink into his head, but he finally spoke back to Roxas, "Is that so?"

Roxas was silent within Sora's head for a moment, then he spoke, "Yeah, I was wrong. This is going to be harder than anything we've ever done before."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. So instead of a pep talk that doesn't work, why don't you help me decide what to do?"

Roxas sighed from within Sora and became quiet, Sora continued to think over all the possible scenarios of what could happen if he told Kairi that he loved her. None of them were good either, all of them ended in disaster, shame and a broken friendship. As Sora thought over these scenarios, he felt his eyelids grow heavy as the warm air covered him like a blanket and it eventually lulled him to sleep.

Sora heard a faint female giggle, he couldn't help but open his eyes at the sound, "Huh?"

He sat up and looked around for the source of the giggling.

He heard it again, the giggle now sounded closer, Sora then turned to face the ocean, when Suddenly he felt two hands cover his eyes. So now he could only see blackness, then a female voice lovingly sang out, "Guess who?"

Sora smirked and threw his arms out behind him and tickled the female's sides. The girl started laughing hysterically before releasing her hold on Sora's eyes and falling over on her butt in the sand. Sora then turned around smiling. "I know that giggle anywhere, Kairi..."

He wagged his finger at her as he continued, "I'm not as dense as some people might think."

Kairi just cutely stuck her tongue out at Sora and giggled again, "Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you sleeping down here instead of waiting for me."

Sora patted the ground beside him, "I have been Waiting for you, so join me."

Kairi just grinned, got down on her knees and crawled on alls fours slowly and gracefully around Sora, giving him a lovely view of her form as she snaked around beside him, sitting down in the sand. They just sat in silence for a minute until Kairi finally broke the silence, "So did you want to talk to me about something?"

Sora let out a sigh and looked over at Kairi, he couldn't help but look away when Kairi turned to look at him though, so he quickly snapped his head towards the ocean in front of him. "Actually, yeah I did. Kairi...I..I..."

Riku strongly gripped the quilt he was lying on with his left hand, he then whispered, "Come on Sora! Don't choke, say, say it damn it!"

"What I mean to say is, I..."

As Sora struggled with finding the will power to speak, Kairi just watched him in anticipation. Just as it looked like Sora was going to finish, someone else spoke, "Whats up Brudda?"

Sora quickly turned to his right being greeted by the sight of Wakka, wearing his blue bandanna tied around his head, his yellow sleeveless shirt, baggy yellow pants that close up halfway down his lower legs. Each leg of these pants has a large, grey, X shaped strap with blue tips. Along with his brown sandals and blue wristbands. And of course he was carrying his Blitzball he always carried that thing around with him.

As this happened Riku couldn't help but slam his fist onto the hard ground in annoyance, "Oh, come on!"

"Oh, nothing much Wakka."

Sora couldn't help but feel relieved that Wakka arrived when he did, Kairi on the other hand was frustrated at that fact.

Wakka then spoke again, "Well then, how'bout a round of Blitzball?"

"No thanks man, we're good."

Then, seeming to appear out of thin air, Tidus walked out from behind Wakka. Wearing, his small, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems yellow center, and white lining around the center. Though he left the shirt open, he also wore his unique navy pants with uneven legs, with his right pant leg reaching just past his knee, and his left reaching to just about mid-thigh. He was also wearing his blue and yellow sandals, and he was holding his personal weapon of choice for sparring, a pole about two and a half to three feet long.

"Well then Sora, how about we go a round, huh?"

Sora couldn't help but wonder how Tidus managed to stay still and quiet enough to hide behind Wakka that whole time, but he spoke never the less, "Nah, I'm ok."

"Oh come on, don't be like that. Let's have a round, come on Mr. Hero, you claim to be so much better than Riku, so why don't you prove it?"

Sora could never back down from a challenge, Sora quickly jumped to his feet and summoned his Keyblade. Sora held the Kingdom Key sideways by it's handle, he lifted it to his face and spoke, "Fine then, I'll prove to you that I can beat anyone and anything that comes my way. You wanna go Tidus? Then let's go."

Tidus smirked at Sora, "You've got it!"

Kairi and Wakka backed away and just watched as the two got in battle positions, Sora in his signature battle stance, holding the Kingdom Key at the ready and Tidus holding his pole at the ready. Wakka then spoke, "Ok one, two, three, go!"

Tidus charged forward towards Sora, hoping to get up close and beat him in as few hit's as possible. Tidus got up close, raised his pole over his head, jumped at Sora and brought down his pole with all his might. Sora rolled out of the way and quickly got behind Tidus, Tidus quickly turned around, swinging his pole at the same time. Sora quickly flipped over Tidus, landing behind him, Sora then quickly pushed Tidus, causing him to stumble forward. Sora then quickly got up close, grabbed Tidus's left arm, and flipped him over onto the ground onto his back. Sora then held the Kingdom Key close to Tidus's chest and smirked, "I told you, I've gotten a lot stronger and faster, not to mention I'm now more skilled with a blade."

Sora helped Tidus up, but before he could say anything else, Tidus offered another challenge, "Ok tough guy, how about you take me, Wakka and Selphie on all at once?"

"I did that two years ago and I won. So what do you think's gonna happen this time?"

Tidus sighed in defeat, "Ok ok, I get it. But what I wanna know is, can you really match Riku's skill?"

"Match Riku's skill? Riku can't even beat me anymore."

Riku had already decided to give up on hiding, after all, nothing was going to happen. So as Sora and Tidus sparred, he was making his way down towards them. By the time Sora had said Riku couldn't beat him, Riku was behind Sora, "Is that so?"

Sora slowly turned around, becoming face to face with Riku, "What were you saying about me not being able to beat you?"

Sora chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand, with a sheepish smile on his face as he spoke, "That's not what I said, what I was saying was, that your the only one I know who is as good as me. And that I didn't know which one of us was better."

"Oh, is that what you said?"

"Yep that's what I said alright."

"Then let's see."

"See what?"

"Let's see who's better, last time I checked the score was twenty to twenty, let's finally put who's the best to the test. So let's settle the score."

Sora's sheepish grin grew into a wide smile as Riku said this, "Ok, your on!"

Riku quickly summoned his Keyblade, the Way to The Dawn, and held it firmly in his right hand. Sora and Riku backed up several steps and got into their signature battle positions, Selphie had arrived by now and was informed of what was going on. Kairi could tell by the look in Sora's and Riku's eyes that their battle was going to be seriously furious, Kairi quickly turned around and began making Wakka, Tidus and Selphie come with her to the waterfall, so they could get out Sora's and Riku's way. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie were reluctant to agree, but they did as Kairi advised.

Sora and Riku stared into each other's eyes, down into the other's soul, and then they both spoke in unison, "This will settle the score once and for all!"

Kairi then spoke, "Ok, go!"

Sora and Riku then dashed forward, towards each other, they got up close and slammed their Keyblade's together, causing a loud clang. The two pushed forward, trying to overpower the other, but both of them seemed equal, so they were locked in a stalemate. So both Sora and Riku jumped into the air, the two then began to clash with each other. Sora and Riku began unleashing a flurry of swings, continuously slamming their Keyblade's against each other. Sora quickly spun around and slammed the Kingdom Key into the Way to The Dawn with all his might, almost overwhelming Riku with the strength of the strike.

Both Keyblade wielders landed on the sand, causing foot imprints in it. Sora and Riku smiled at each other and dashed towards one and other, again. They slammed their Keyblade's together again, but quickly pulled them apart. Riku then quickly gained the advantage and made Sora go on the defensive, he quickly unleashed a flurry of swings, Sora had to hold his Keyblade sideways to defend himself from the many Keyblade strikes. But as Riku pulled his Keyblade back for another strike, Sora swung the Kingdom Key, making Riku bring the Way to The Dawn down, in a sideways position, so he could defend himself.

As Sora's Keyblade slammed against Riku's, there was another loud clang. Sora quickly pulled back and swung once again, finally putting Riku on the defensive. Sora advanced and unleashed a gauntlet of Keyblade strikes, Riku had no choice but to guard the strikes, he couldn't get in an attack. Sora kept at Riku with furious determination, anyone could see that the two weren't kidding around, they were in a real heated battle. Sora brought his Keyblade back and struck Riku's Keyblade with his own, he did this several times before he tried a different strike.

Sora remained on the offensive, he repeatedly brought down his Keyblade with fierce determination and strength. Riku was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed, he had to regain control over the battle or he was done for. When Sora brought his Keyblade back for another strike, Riku swung his Keyblade at Sora, aiming for his torso. But Sora just brought his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key, down and guarded himself from the strike. Sora then quickly flipped over Riku, landing behind him, but before Sora could strike, Riku spun around, performing a spinning Keyblade strike.

Sora was able to bring the Kingdom Key up in time to block the strike, Sora quickly pushed his Keyblade forward, pushing Riku's Keyblade back. Sora then quickly thrusted his Keyblade towards Riku, Riku flipped over Sora, avoiding the strike, Sora quickly turned around and saw Riku land on the bridge that connected the piece of land that had the Paopu tree, and the shack. Sora quickly jumped up onto the bridge as well and dashed towards Riku once again, he brought back his Keyblade and shot it forward, hoping to finally strike Riku. Riku quickly brought up his Keyblade, the, Way to The Dawn, and blocked Sora's strike.

Sora was persistent though, he quickly unleashed several, powerful swings with his Keyblade. Everytime Riku guarded he took a step back for good measure, while Sora would take one step forward. This continued until they were both standing on the small little piece of elevated land that held the Paopu tree. Sora and Riku slammed their Keyblade's together once again, they then noticed where they were standing. They both looked around, and then looked at each other, both of them then both burst into laughter. The two calmed down after several seconds and put their game faces back on, the battle then continued.

Sora and Riku traded strikes, really giving their Keyblade's a beating, finally it seemed that the end of the battle was in sight. Riku brought his Keyblade back and began to bring it down for a strike that would hopefully finish the battle, but Sora quickly used all of his might to parry the attack with his own Keyblade. This was Sora's chance, he quickly brought his Keyblade back and swung it at Riku, hoping to hit him and finish the battle. But Riku saw Sora's Keyblade coming at him, and just before it could hit him, he back flipped and planted both of his feet firmly on the Paopu tree.

Sora quickly jumped after him, his Keyblade at the ready, landing on the Paopu tree as well, but as he did, Riku jumped up high into the air, avoiding Sora's incoming strike. Sora looked up at Riku, Riku was grinning, Sora grinned right back, Sora quickly jumped up into the air after Riku. The two slammed their Keyblade's together several times, but this left both of them exposed for an attack from the other. Riku was the one to take the advantage of the situation and thrust his Keyblade at Sora, Sora didn't see this coming, but he was able to dodge it. He put his feet on Riku's Keyblade and pushed himself off it, pushing himself higher into the air, he back flipped in mid-air and came down with an extremely powerful Keyblade strike.

Riku watched as this happen, Sora had really surprised Riku with this one. Riku barely had enough time to bring his Keyblade up, in a sideways position, to defend himself from the strike. But the strike was so powerful that Riku couldn't help it as his Keyblade flew from out of his grip in a random direction, Sora and Riku then fell into the sea at the same time, so they were both drenched. Kairi, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie all rushed over to the now drenched Sora and Riku as they pulled themselves out of the water and on to the shore, they both sat side by side, soaking wet from falling into the ocean.

Sora and Riku both thought it was a close match so they both looked at Kairi and spoke in unison, "Kairi, who won?"

Kairi smiled at the two, then she said something that neither of them wanted to hear, especially since both of them had given their all in that battle, "That battle was really close, I'm going to have to call it a tie."

Riku face palmed, while Sora looked bewildered, "What? Come on Kairi, tell us, who won?"

"Like I said, you both fought well, but coming from someone who has decided all of your previous close calls, I'd say that match was a draw."

"Aww, come on Kairi, we can handle it, who won?"

"I'm telling you Sora, it was a stalemate, a tie, a draw, you both won and you both lost. So now the scores twenty one to twenty one."

Sora and Riku both looked at each other with a saddened expression, then they both smiled and looked up at Kairi. They then both spoke in unison, "Thank's Kairi."


	4. Nightmares Part 1

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>Anyway, here's chapter four, now please read, enjoy and review.<p>

The rest of the day passed the three friends by rather quickly, before they knew it, the sun had already fallen and the moon was out. Selphie, Wakka and Tidus had already left, Wakka and Tidus had a Blitzball game the next day and Selphie had plans to go on a shopping spree. So that left Sora, Kairi and Riku to themselves on the small island that they had discovered when they were little kids. Sora, Kairi and Riku all sat at the dock, side by side, as all three of them laughed at fond memories they had of the little island. But soon they all got in their boats and left the small island for two reasons.

The first being that it was late and their parents would want them home, and the second one was that Sora and Riku were quite cold. This is because they decided to stay in their dripping wet clothes instead of going to get a new, dry pair. Once the three arrived and tied their boats to the dock of the main island, the three parted ways and went home. Soon each of them were in their own beds, each of them in their own sleep wear and sleeping positions, and before long, all three of the best friends were asleep. But several minutes after Riku had closed his eyes, he heard a noise outside his bedroom window. So Riku got up and opened the window, he looked around but he didn't see anything, he couldn't help but wonder aloud, "What the?"

But just as he was going to close his window, he heard the noise again, but he still couldn't quite identify it. Wondering what the sound was, he climbed out of his window and dropped down onto the sand. He looked around once again, but he still couldn't see anything. But just as he was going to turn around, climb up the tree that was next to his house and crawl back into his room through his window, he saw something out of the corner of his eye move. Riku then turned to where he thought he saw something move, now he could see it even more clearly, it was a silhouette of someone, walking the opposite direction of Riku's house.

Riku quickly ran after the silhouette but after several minutes he gave up, he couldn't help but think aloud "Ok I'm seeing things that aren't there, I really need to get some sleep."

Riku then turned around and started making his way home. But on his way back Riku noticed in his peripheral vision, that someone was following him. But Riku couldn't tell who it was, because the person was hiding in the shadows. While Riku couldn't see the person, he knew someone was there, he knew it wasn't just his imagination. So Riku stopped dead in his tracks and quickly turned around, he looked for the person following him but it was too dark to see, but Riku questioned the person anyway, "Who are you and why are you following me?"

Riku waited several seconds for someone to answer, but no one did. But, just as Riku was going to speak again, someone finally answered his questions, "You know who I am, boy. And you know why I'm here, don't you?"

Riku's eyes widened at the realization at who the voice belonged to, 'his voice' was the last voice Riku was expecting to hear. Riku clenched his teeth in anger, summoned his Keyblade and got into his signature battle position, "Xehanort's Heartless! How the hell are you even still alive?"

The person standing in the shadows revealed themselves by stepping into the moonlight, and it was indeed Xehanort's heartless. The dark being stared deep into Riku's eyes, staring down into his very soul, as he spoke, "I gave you the power that many men have perished trying to control and conquer, I gave you everything you asked for! I gave you the power to take the girl for your own, and at the last second you backed out! If it wasn't for you and that boy with the Kingdom Key, Kingdom Hearts would have been mine! Just wait boy, I'm coming for you, I'm coming for that Princess of Heart and I'm coming after that pesky Kingdom Key wielder!

Riku gritted his teeth even harder, "Like hell you will!"

Riku then jumped towards the Heartless, slicing right through him with his Keyblade, Xehanort's Heartless then vanished. Riku quickly went on the defensive, waiting for an attack to happen from any direction, but after several seconds nothing happened. So Riku breathed a sigh of relief and put away his Keyblade, but when Riku tried to move he couldn't. Something was holding him still, Riku looked down to the ground where his feet were, he was standing in a small dark circle. Dark tentacles slithered out of the dark hole and wrapped themselves all around Riku's feet, rendering him incapable of moving.

The tentacles began to pull Riku down into the small black portal, and as they did, the portal grew to accommodate Riku's body size. The portal was trying to swallow Riku, Riku struggled with the tentacles, trying to break free of their grasp, "Agh! Fuck! Get off of me!"

But no matter how much Riku struggled, he couldn't break free. And soon enough, Riku was swallowed whole by the dark portal. And the last thing Riku heard was Xehanort's heartless's voice, "I have returned and I will eliminate every single person in my way! This time, Kingdom Hearts will finally be mine!"

Riku jumped out of his bed breathing hard, Keyblade in hand and sweating, Riku looked around and realized that he was in his room. So he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, put his Keyblade away and sat back down onto his bed, "It was just a dream."

Riku then wiped away the sweat from his forhead and looked around one more time for good measure, but he stopped when his eyes landed on his alarm clock, which read, five fifty five am. "It's that early? Well I guess I better get up and get dressed."

Riku then stood up and made his way over to his closet. He opened and proceeded in getting dressed in the very same clothes he wore when he returned to the Islands about six months ago. After he finished getting dressed, he turned around and became face to face with Xehanort's Heartless, Riku quickly jumped back, slamming against the wall. Causing the only light in his room that was on, the closet light, to shake and hide the evil being in the shadows. Riku gritted his teeth as the light became still once again, revealing that there was no one else but Riku in the room. Riku sighed in relief, he then rubbed his eyes, and couldn't help but think aloud, "I must be seeing things."

"Sora, help me!"

Sora dashed forward towards the direction that Kairi's pleas could be heard coming from. But after several seconds, he still wasn't able to find her. He was doing his best to locate her, but he couldn't see anything, it was too dark. Sora couldn't help but think, "It's too dark to see! But it's never this dark on Destiny Islands, even at night!"

So Sora stopped in his tracks and looked all around, he would have to do his best to rely on his ears, he would have to hear her out to find her, so he called out to her, "Kairi! Kairi, where are you?"

For several seconds there was nothing but silence, but finally Kairi walked out of the darkness and into the sliver of moonlight there was, revealing herself to Sora's eyes. There were three things Sora noticed as soon as she had came into view, the first being that she was bleeding from the mouth and forehead. The second being that she was crying, tears were continuously rolling down her face. And the third being that her clothes were slightly torn up. Kairi then pleaded to Sora, "Please Sora protect me! He's hurting me, please Sora help me!"

Kairi was then yanked by her arm, back into the darkness by some unseen person.

Sora was infuriated at this, "Kairi! Who ever you are, let her go now!"

Responding to Sora's threat a figure stepped out of the shadows and spoke with calm rage, "Remember me boy! I was so close to creating a new Kingdom Hearts and you ruined it!"

Sora was taken back by who he was staring at, "Xemnas, I thought Riku and I destroyed you!"

Xemnas just gave a slight chuckle at Sora's response, "You can never destroy me boy, I am nothingness itself and nothingness is eternal!"

Sora just sneered at Xemnas and summoned his Keyblade, "Let Kairi go, now! Or I'll do worse then destroy you!"

Xemnas just snarled at Sora and disappeared. Xemnas appeared behind Sora, Sora quickly turned around and became face to face with Xemnas, "You think you can threaten me, boy?"

Sora didn't even flinch, he needed to find Kairi and get her to safety, that was all that mattered, "Tell me, what have you done with Kairi!"

Xemnas ignored his demand, "You know, we're a lot alike, you and I."

Sora felt disgusted that he was being compared to Xemnas, no matter who it was doing the comparing, "I am nothing like you! You are a monster, you enjoy others misery, you take pleasure in killing and you are a pawn of darkness! I am nothing like that, I am nothing like you!"

"You and I are alike more than you know boy. I was a prodigy at a young age, just like you. But it wasn't until I was much older that I found the true path to power. The true path to power, the only way to become the ultimate Keyblade wielder, is to use Light and Darkness in equal shares."

"Ha! That's funny, because the only thing I've ever seen you use is darkness!

"I wasn't talking about me boy, I was too old to conquer both Light and Darkness, so I chose the more powerful of the two, the Darkness. I'm telling you this boy, because you will turn to Darkness soon enough. And you won't be able to handle it, you will be consumed by it."

Sora was stunned, buy only for a second,"I will never turn to darkness, ever!"

Xemnas just stared at Sora for several seconds, then he spoke, "Yes, you will. And you will be so consumed by fear, anger and jealousy that you will kill both your best friend and the girl you love."

Sora shook his head furiously, "No, never! I would never, ever, in my whole life, no matter what, hurt Kairi or Riku!"

Xemnas then quirked an eyebrow, "Are you sure about that?"

Xemnas then snapped his fingers and he disappeared, while Riku slowly faded into view. Riku was lying motionless in a puddle of blood, his eyes glazed over. "Riku!"

Sora quickly ran over to Riku's lifeless looking body and got down on his knee's, "No, no, no! Riku, you can't be dead! You just can't be!"

Sora quickly checked Riku's pulse, it wasn't there, he really was dead. Tears began to roll down Sora's face, "Riku, no! Damn it! Why?"

Sora quickly wiped the tears from his face, stood up, gritted his teeth and began shouting in rage, "Xemnas! Get out here, you cowardly bastard! I'll make you pay for what you've done!"

Then, as if his voice was coming from inside Sora's own head, Xemnas spoke, "Are you sure I did this? Are you certain that you didn't?"

Sora gritted his teeth even harder, "Of course I'm sure! Why the hell wouldn't I be? Just stop playing your mind games! I'm sick of them! Now show yourself, so I can make you pay for what you've done to Riku!"

"Your so sure of yourself, well then let's see who killed the boy then. Let's get the facts from someone else, someone who saw it happen."

Then Kairi once again came into view, she was holding her knee's to her chest, bleeding and sobbing uncontrollably. Sora slowly approached Kairi, "Kairi? Kairi, are you ok?"

Kairi looked up, her eyes meeting Sora's, she then spoke with an inconsolable fear in her voice, "Sora why? Why are you doing this? Why did you kill Riku? Why are you trying to kill me?"

Sora felt like his heart was pierced by an arrow, he would never do something like this, never. He began to speak as more tears began rolling down his face, "Kairi, I didn't do this. You know that I would never hurt you or Riku, your my best friends. Please come here, let me protect you."

Kairi started slowly inching backwards away from Sora, "I used to believe that, but how could it be true? Look at what you've done! How could you? Please just leave me alone, go away! Stop hurting me!"

Sora kept trying to get close to Kairi and calm her down but to no avail. Finally he did the last thing he could think of, so as he was crying he spoke once more, "Kairi look at me, do I look like I would hurt you?"

Kairi pulled out a pocket mirror and threw it at Sora, "Why don't you look at yourself? Because I can't stand looking at you anymore!"

Kairi then stumbled to her feet and ran off, Sora reached to grab her, to stop her, but she got away. Sora's tears intensified, he looked down, picked up the mirror and looked at it. He was terrified and appualed at what he saw, he was in his Anti-Form, and he was covered in blood. Sora dropped the mirror and it shattered into several pieces, Sora then began slowly backing away from his cracked image in the mirror. He denied what he saw, he didn't believe it, "No! This can't be! I would never ever hurt Kairi or Riku! I love Kairi, I would never dream of laying a hand on her!"

Xemnas and Xehanort's Heartless both walked out of the shadows, shoulder to shoulder, they both then began to speak in unison, "Darkness can make people do things that they could never even imagine, this applies to battle as well. I know you better than you know yourself, your jealous of your best friend, because you think he has a better shot at the girl. Your secretly infuriated with him because of everything he's ever done to you and you wish to attain power that is surpassed by none, so you can destroy all those who stand in your way. So you can protect the girl, but you can't handle the Darkness, you will be it's puppet, it's pawn. You are doomed to eradicate everything you love."

Xemnas and Xehanort's Heartless then turned towards each other and walked into each other, forming the true Xehanort. "But if you don't turn to Darkness, then everything you love will still be destroyed. You must learn to control it, open your heart to it. You must become one with Darkness!"

"NEVER!"

"Then I will show you what will happen if you don't."

Xehanort snapped his fingers and disappeared, Kairi soon replaced him. But her eyes were glazed over, her clothing was torn to bits, there were deep cuts all over her body and she had a deep slash mark across her throat, blood spilling out of it. For all intents and purposes, she was dead, yet here she was, standing before Sora. Then in an hurt and misery filled tone, Kairi began to speak, "Why Sora? Why didn't you protect me? I thought you swore to never let anyone hurt me? Were you just lying? Do you even care? Why do you hate me Sora? Why would you let this happen to me?"

Sora quickly jumped out of his bed screaming, tears coming down his face like a waterfall, and Keyblade in hand "KAIRI!"

While a voice inside Sora's head was screaming a different name, "NAMINE!"

Sora looked all around, and when he realized he was in his room, his Keyblade disappeared, he fell to his knee's and began sobbing into his hands. "It was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare."

Roxas took a shaky breath from inside Sora, he had to calm himself down and so did Sora. Sora stayed like that for several minutes, but he eventually stood up and wiped the tears from his face, he then looked at his alarm clock, which read six thirty seven am. Which would explain why Sora's Mother and Father hadn't come running into his room when he woke up screaming, they were both at work by now. Sora let out a desperate and sorrow filled sigh, Roxas doing the same. Roxas then spoke to Sora in his head, "Ok, we need to calm down. It was just a nightmare, just a horrible nightmare."

Sora agreed with him, "Yeah just a nightmare."

Sora smacked his cheeks as he said to himself, "Calm down Sora, after all it really was just a nightmare."

Sora looked down at the ground and took a deep breath, he had almost calmed down. He looked up again, and was face to face with the Xemnas, Sora quickly jumped backwards, hitting the wall, his head taking most of the blow. His vision became blurry, and Sora just stood there, too frightened to move. But when his vision became clear, there was no one in the room besides him. Sora let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding, "I feel like I'm going insane, I need to wake up before I start seeing other things that aren't there."

Kairi had awoken several minutes ago and was already clothed, in the same exact outfit she wore when Sora and Riku came back to Destiny Islands for good. She had made her way downstairs and began to eat some breakfast, but soon a strange feeling of uneasiness washed over her, she felt like something was wrong. She felt like something was up with Sora, but she didn't know what to make of it, so she asked her other half, "Nami, did you feel that?"

"Yeah, something is wrong with Sora and Roxas. It felt like there was a surge of darkness around them, we need to go check on them."

"Right."

Kairi stood up and dashed out the front door of her house, leaving her breakfast unfinished. She had to check on Sora, she had to make sure he was ok.


	5. The King's Letter and The Paopu Fruit

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>Anyway, here's chapter five, now please read, enjoy and review.<p>

Kairi was running towards Sora's house, it was in view, and she was soon at the door. She knocked on it, louder than she usually did, after a few seconds of no answer, Kairi opened the door. "Sora?"

At the sound of Kairi's voice, Sora dashed down the stairs and met her at the front door, wearing his black adventure outfit that he had worn when he returned to Destiny Islands for good, six months ago. "Hey Kairi, what ya up to?"

"I just wanted to...uh, never mind. Anyway, I was wondering if you and Riku wanted to come to the island with me, we could just hang out by ourselves there, all day long, like we used to."

Sora gave a big smile, "That sounds like a great idea, it'll be like old times."

Kairi smiled as well and nodded her head, Sora and Kairi exited his house and he closed the front door. The two then made their way to Riku's place, but they passed the dock on the way and noticed that his boat was gone. Which meant that Riku was already at the island, so Sora and Kairi both got in their small boats and made their way to the small play island. They docked and tied their boats up, so they wouldn't float away. But before Sora and Kairi made their way up to the Paopu tree, Kairi spoke, "I'll be there in a minute, I'm just gonna look around for a bit, ok?"

Sora nodded his head, "Ok then Kairi."

Sora then took off in the direction of the shack that would lead him up to the Paopu tree, he made his way up the stairs and was making his way across the bridge.

Kairi walked alone by the shore, she was thinking of all the fond memories she had on this island with Sora and Riku. As she walked, three fish swam in a pack formation, but all three of the fish were a different type. The one in front, the leader it looked like, was an Armorhead, while the two behind it were an Ayu and a Damselfish. Kairi couldn't help but giggle at the sight, in a way it reminded her of Sora, Riku and herself. As she watched the fish swim on by, she noticed something getting increasingly closer to the shore. Soon a bottle washed up on shore, with a piece of rolled up paper inside.

Kairi picked it up and examined it, and she soon found that King Mickey's royal seal was on the paper.

Sora saw Riku seated on the Paopu tree, he jogged over to the tree, put his hands on it and hopped over to the other side. He then slowly leaned his back against it while also putting his hands behind his head. As Sora and Riku watched as the final stages of the sun rise, there was a peaceful silence for several seconds, but finally, Riku broke the silence, "Nothings changed huh?"

Sora was silent for only a moment, "Nope, and nothing will."

Riku was silent for a few seconds, but he soon spoke again, "What a small world."

Sora interjected, "But part of one thats much bigger."

Riku agreed, "Yeah."

Sora had been wondering about something, and he never was able to figure out what the answer to his question was. So he looked upwards, to his right, at Riku and asked the very question he had been wondering about for six months, "Hey Riku...what do you think it was, the door to the light?"

Riku then hopped off of the Paopu tree and turned to Sora, while Sora stood up strait and looked at Riku as well. Riku chuckled and lightly poked Sora's chest with his index finger, "This."

Sora looked down at his chest, brought his hand to it and responded with, "This?"

Then looked back up at Riku, "Yeah. It's always closer than you think."

Sora let his hand fall of his chest and to his side, then he gave a small smile. Kairi had finally made it back to the bridge that led to the Paopu tree, and had started crossing it, when she was nearly all the way over the bridge, she called out to her two best friends, "Sora! Riku!"

Sora and Riku both turned their heads towards Kairi and watched as she came up to them, they turned to face her, she had a bottle in her hand and she stopped to take a few short breath's, "Hey, whats up?"

Kairi looked up at Sora and held the bottle out to him, "Look."

Sora saw the royal seal and reached for the bottle, "From the king?"

He took the bottle out of Kairi's hand, took out the cork and dumped the piece of paper out onto his hand. He quickly unrolled it and began reading it intently, Riku leaned his head over so he could read it as well and Kairi did the same.

The letter read, "I wanted to tell you right away about memories from the past that sleep within you, and about the pieces that will tie you to your future. Sora, Riku, Kairi, the truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts. Sora, you are who you are because of those people, but their hurting, and your the only one who can end their sadness. They need you, it's possible that all your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known that there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events, and now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened. -Mickey"

Sora, Kairi and Riku all looked up from the letter out into the sky, there was silence between the three, until Riku spoke up, "Hey, Kairi come on, I think we should leave Sora alone for a bit, to think things over."

Kairi looked at Riku and nodded her head, "Yeah."

The two then slowly began making their way across the bridge, leaving Sora and the Paopu tree behind them. Sora climbed up and sat down upon the Paopu tree's trunk and began thinking over what the King's letter had said. "I am who I am, because of them? I'm really the only one who can end their pain and sadness? Then there's no choice in the matter, I have to do this. But that means leaving Kairi, Riku and Destiny Islands behind once more, can I really handle that all over again? I have no choice, if I really am who I am because of these people, then I owe them. My mind's made up, I'm going to do this, no I have to do this."

Sora rolled the letter up and held it in the same hand he held the bottle in. He stared out at the sun, quickly becoming lost in the sight of it. Sora was soon pulled out of his blank state by a voice, "Sora"

Sora turned his head around, looked at Riku and spoke, "Riku."

Sora watched Riku as he walked down the slope of the bridge and walk up beside the tree, Riku then posed a question, "Your mind's made up?"

Sora looked back out into the open sky, "Yeah."

Kairi walked right in between the Paopu tree and Riku, turned to face Sora, her hands behind her back, "Sora."

Sora turned his head to face Kairi, knowing she heard the conversation. "Kairi..."

Sora hopped off of the tree and looked down at his feet, "I..."

Kairi just nodded her head, Sora looked back up at her, in slight surprise and gave her a smile. Sora then walked up to Kairi, until their bodies were only about four, five, maybe six inches away from each other. "It's just...they really need me. I have to go, I am who I am...because of them."

Riku gave a small sigh, while Kairi did the same, but then she gave Sora a small smile. She then grabbed Sora's left hand, grabbed her lucky charm and put her lucky charm into his hand. "See you soon."

Sora looked into Kairi's eyes and a big smile formed on his face, causing Kairi's own smile to widen a bit. He gripped her lucky charm tight, tucked it into one of his pockets and then pulled her in to a loving hug. His hands resting on her upper back and her hands resting on his lower back, "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

The two then slightly pulled their heads back, causing them to become face to face, but their faces were so close together, that they could feel each other's breath on each other's faces. Riku could see where this was going, so he quickly and silently snuck away. Sora and Kairi slowly moved their heads together, their lips becoming closer, but before they got close enough to kiss, Sora gathered all of his courage and whispered something, "Kairi...I love you."

"I love you, too."

Kairi's arms went up and wrapped around Sora's neck, while Sora moved his arms and wrapped them around Kairi's waist, the two then closed the gap between their lips. As their lips connected, they closed their eyes and it seemed as if time stopped and stood still, neither knew how long it lasted and neither cared. They soon parted, opening their eyes halfway, so they could look at each other. They pulled apart just a bit more, but not letting go of each other and fully opened their eyes. Both smiled at each other, small smiles, and just stared into the others eyes, down into the other's soul.

Sora then remembered something, he let go of Kairi, climbed up onto the trunk of the Paopu tree and began climbing it. The climb was short of course, and he grabbed a Paopu fruit and dropped down. He walked over to Kairi, and hesitantly asked, "K..Kairi, will you s..share a Paopu f..fruit with me?"

Kairi's smile widened a bit, "Of course."

Sora broke the fruit in half and handed Kairi her half, the two then ate their half's, both hoping that the legend of the Paopu fruit was true. But both also not caring, no matter what, the two planned to stay together. Riku watched from off in the distance, he smiled at the sight before him, but he also couldn't help but feel his heart ache a bit because of the scene he was watching. But Riku didn't care, he was glad that his two best friends were finally happy and together. Sora and Kairi both couldn't imagine a better moment then this one, both were in pure bliss, both of their dreams had finally come true.


	6. The Departure from Destiny Islands

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Square Enix do.  
>Anyway, here's chapter six, now please read, enjoy and review.<p>

As Riku came back across the bridge, Sora and Kairi parted. But Riku still couldn't resist poking fun at the two love birds, "Next time your going to swap saliva, warn me first, would ya?"

Sora and Kairi blushed at Riku's blunt statement, "Riku!"

"And I think you need to go pick up some protection, because you guys were getting freaky with it. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't intervened."

Sora's and Kairi's mild blushes quickly kicked into overdrive, almost turning their whole faces red, both of them quickly punched Riku in both of his arms, "Riku, shut up!"

Riku couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the two, their faces looked like tomatoes. "You two are so easy!"

Riku noticed that Sora and Kairi now had scowls on their tomato red faces, Riku knew he was in trouble now, so he quickly dashed across the bridge. Sora and Kairi quickly followed after him, chasing after him with the intent to kill. As Riku got across the bridge, he jumped down onto the ground and sprinted towards the dock, Sora and Kairi were on his tail, not far behind. "Get back here Riku!"

Riku just kept on laughing as he reached the dock, Sora and Kairi were closer to him than before though. As he got to his boat, Sora and Kairi were within an arms reach from Riku. But before any of three could make another move, something in the sky caught their eyes, so all three of them looked to the sky. Their was a twinkle, like a star, but it was day, there couldn't be any visible stars. Sora and Riku instantly caught on, while Kairi just wondered, soon the twinkle turned into an object off in the distance. But it was so far away, that you couldn't actually tell what it was.

Sora and Riku, having a good hunch on what it was, quickly ran back to the bridge that connected the shack and the piece of elevated land. Kairi quickly followed after them, wondering what the object was, and if they knew what it was. "Guys, what is that?"

Sora and Riku just kept running, Kairi following behind, the three went through the shack, up it's steps and out onto the bridge. They ran across the bridge, stood behind the Paopu tree and waited in anticipation. Soon the object was so close, that you could tell it was some kind of ship, and soon you could see who the pilots were, none other than, Donald and Goofy. Sora and Riku then both spoke in unison, "It's the Gummi Ship."

Kairi then understood, after all Sora and Riku had told her stories about the Gummi Ship. Well, Gummi Ships, because there was more than one of them. Donald and Goofy soon landed the Gummi ship onto the sand, and exited the ship. Sora, Kairi and Riku all dashed down to greet them. At the sight of their three favorite friends from different worlds, Donald and Goofy cried in unison, "Sora, Kairi, Riku!"

The two then piled upon Sora, pinning him to the ground, in a team hug. Sora couldn't help but smile as he wrestled himself out from underneath the two, and wrapped them in a bear hug. "Hey guys, I didn't think you'd be arriving for me so soon!"

Before Donald and Goofy could speak, Mickey exited the ship, Donald, Goofy and Sora all stood up, at attention. "King Mickey!"

"Hey there Sora, Kairi, Riku! It's good to see you guys again."

Sora and Riku then both spoke in unison, "We could say the same thing."

Donald and Goofy then turned their attention to Kairi and Riku, while Sora made his way over to the King. Sora began to speak as he approached Mickey, "Hey Mickey, I didn't think you'd be here so soon! But since you are here, can you explain to me what I need to do to help these suffering people?"

Mickey smiled at Sora, but spoke in a serious tone, "Before you do that Sora, I must take you and Riku to Yen Sid, he has summoned you both."

Sora scratched his head in confusion, "Huh? But your letter said..."

"We'll get to that Sora, Yen Sid just needs you and Riku to do something for him."

"Wait, Riku's coming with me?"

Mickey just nodded his head, Sora let an expression of worry come upon his face as he spoke once again, "But that would mean that Kairi would be left here, all alone, again."

Mickey's smile faded, "Yes, but this is very important. It involves your connection to the Keyblade, so both of you must be there, since you are Keyblade wielders."

"Well so is Kairi, you said so yourself! She's a Keyblade wielder too! We can't just leave her all alone again!"

Mickey quickly took upon a serious look, put his index finger to his lips and uttered, "Shhh!"

Sora frowned and looked behind him, seeing that Kairi hadn't heard what they had said, luckily. Sora turned back to King Mickey and proposed a question, "Why? Why do we have to leave her behind, all alone? I know it's dangerous to take her, so I agree that she shouldn't come...but if she's left all alone, something could happen to her. Last time it did, and if everything until now, was just preparation, then she needs to be protected."

Mickey looked as if he was thinking it over, his face eventually turning into one that looked like it was torn by indecision. Finally, after a several more moments, Mickey came to a decision. So he gave the solution to the problem, "Ok then. Donald and Goofy can stay behind and protect Kairi, that way we can still go and finish what was started long ago."

Sora slowly nodded his head, "Ok, that sounds fair enough."

Mickey smiled once again, and turned to the others, Sora repeated his actions. Kairi and Riku had just finished talking with Donald and Goofy, so now all four of them were approaching Sora and Mickey. Mickey was the one to speak first of the six, "It's time to go, so Riku, get on board the Gummi Ship with Sora."

Riku acted as if he had heard something totally outrageous, "WHAT? Wait a minute, there was nothing in your letter that said I had to go too!"

"Well we have to take a slight detour, and it's important that you come with."

Riku normally wouldn't have minded, hell who would have liked to go with the King and Sora, but that would mean leaving Kairi all alone again. She didn't talk much about it, but what she had said about being alone, had made him hate himself that much more for turning to Darkness. "But what about Kairi? We can't just leave her all alone again."

"Don't worry about that, Sora and I have come to the decision that Donald and Goofy will stay here with her."

Riku breathed a sigh of relief, while Donald squawked at this surprising news, "WHAT?"

And Goofy scratched his head in confusion, "Wait, what? We're staying on Destiny Islands?"

Mickey nodded his head, "Yes, you two must stay, think of it as a favor to Sora, stay here and protect Kairi, that's all he and I ask of you."

Goofy and Donald straitened up, and agreed with slight professionalism. "Ok, Sora, Riku, say your goodbyes to Kairi and then we'll set off. Meet you in the cockpit fellas."

Mickey then boarded the Gummi Ship, Riku walked over to Kairi and locked her into a tight, brotherly hug, "Bye Kairi, I'll see you soon."

But before Riku could pull away, Kairi whispered a request to him, "Please, make sure he comes home safely, please?"

Riku gave a bittersweet smile and whispered back, "Don't you worry, I'll make sure that he comes back safely. And he'll be back before you know it, I'll see to that, I promise."

"Thank you."

Riku and Kairi separated, now it was Sora's turn to say goodbye. Sora wrapped Kairi in a loving embrace, and she soon returned the favor, "I'll miss you Kairi, but I'll be back as soon as I possibly can. I won't leave you alone for too long. And..."

Sora could feel his heart pulse with regret, shame and sorrow at remembering the last two times he left her, he couldn't help but utter something that he has wanted to say to her for a long time, "I won't let anyone hurt you anymore, I promise."

Kairi held her tears back as best she could, as she herself felt her heart pulse in sorrow and guilt, "I know you will, just come home safely."

"Yeah, I will. I love you, Kairi."

"I love you too, Sora."

Sora and Kairi then, for the second time, felt their lips touch and lock into a sweet, innocent and time stopping kiss. Sora soon pulled away, too soon for his or Kairi's taste, and he boarded the Gummi Ship. As it took off, Sora waved goodbye to Kairi, and she did the same, as this happened she let her tears begin to fall, silently down her face.

Sora walked over to the back seat and plopped down into it, he couldn't help but frown at his predicament, he didn't want to leave Kairi alone. She had Donald and Goofy, but he knew, that she knew, that he had no idea when he'd be back. Which meant, in a sentimental way, she was all alone, again. Sora hated that he and Riku had to leave her on the island, but he was very relieved that she wasn't coming, he didn't want to put her in any danger. But then again, who would be better at protecting her from danger, than someone who can see it a mile away, like Yen Sid.

Sora watched as Mickey piloted the Gummi Ship, bringing them ever closer to their destination, Yen Sid's mysterious tower. Sora couldn't help but wonder exactly who he was helping and what he had to do before he could help them. It must be something important if it involves his and Riku's connection to the Keyblade, and Yen Sid. After more hours than Sora could count, he lost track at twenty, not caring to count anymore, he felt his eyelids grow extremely heavy. He couldn't help but let out a yawn and feel his eyes slowly close, within a matter of minutes he fell asleep.


End file.
